Monday, January 25, 2010

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - GOTY 2009

A very belated post about a last year video game, but as I enjoyed my time so much with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves I believe it deserve a proper tribute here.

Uncharted 2 is by no means a video game that breaks new ground. Instead what we have here is a video game as it should have always been - an entertaiment. Forget about the video games as art debate for a minute and think of why people play games in the first place. Yes, Uncharted 2 is very pretty (not realistic pretty but with high saturation, detail and plenty of blue skies pretty) but the impressive visuals aren't the only thing great about it.

The game is fairly linear and the puzzles aren't that difficult either - which is not necessary a bad thing. At times it felt like watching one very long Indiana Jones film as cutscenes pops up every now and then though never in a way that gets too annoying. Gun fights and platforming requires little skills. No, this isn't your father's Prince of Persia where the mastery of the joypad is a dead requirement. It is accessible with a predictable but entertaning storyline, but still remains a video game at heart. A modern Tomb Raider that should have been.

More challenge would have been welcomed, but you know what, it didn't bother me one bit that it was easier than many games - I just didn't want to put the controller down (it is the only single player adventure game I ever restarted right after the credits). Simply put Naughty Dog's latest is their finest yet and one of the best video games you will ever enjoy this generation. Go play it.